City Light CEO Pay To Be Voted On By Seattle City Council

SEATTLE - OCTOBER 24: The Alaskan Way Viaduct winds past downtown Seattle, Washington October 24, 2009. The viaduct, which was constructed in the 1950s and carries 110,00 cars a day, is slated to be replaced by a deep bore tunnel, which has become a divisive issue in the city's mayoral race. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote Monday whether to approve a pay raise for Seattle City Light CEO Jorge Carrasco (HOR’-hay car-AHS’-koh). He’s already the highest-paid city employee at nearly $245,000 a year.

A council committee last week recommended an increase of as much as $120,000. A spokesman for Mayor Ed Murray said Carrasco would get about $305,000 if the raise is approved. Murray says Carrasco deserves the raise to remain competitive with other utility directors.

The Seattle Times reported over the weekend that the utility hired an online reputation-management company last year to drown out critical stories about Carrasco in search results. City Light said it spent more than $17,000 on the contract with Brand.com.

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